> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kawax.biz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Laravel 13 new features overview

> A rundown of the major new features and improvements in Laravel 13, released in March 2026.

## Introduction

Laravel 13 was released on March 17, 2026. As with the yearly major release cadence, Laravel 13 focuses in particular on **AI-native workflows**, **safer defaults**, and **more expressive developer APIs**.

Breaking changes are kept to a minimum, so most applications can upgrade with only small adjustments. On the other hand, many new features—the Laravel AI SDK, semantic search, and more—have been added that can significantly change how modern applications are built.

<Info>
  Laravel 13 support policy: bug fixes through 2027 Q3 and security fixes through **March 17, 2028**.
</Info>

***

## PHP requirements update

Laravel 13 requires **PHP 8.3 or later**. Support for PHP 8.2 has ended.

| Version | PHP           | Release date       | Bug fix deadline  | Security fix deadline |
| ------- | ------------- | ------------------ | ----------------- | --------------------- |
| 11      | 8.2 - 8.4     | March 12, 2024     | September 3, 2025 | March 12, 2026        |
| 12      | 8.2 - 8.5     | February 24, 2025  | August 13, 2026   | February 24, 2027     |
| **13**  | **8.3 - 8.5** | **March 17, 2026** | **2027 Q3**       | **March 17, 2028**    |

Major PHP 8.3 benefits include typed constants, the `json_validate()` function, and the `#[\Override]` attribute.

***

## Major new features

### Laravel AI SDK

Laravel 13's headline feature is the **first-party AI SDK**. It provides a unified API for text generation, tool-calling agents, embeddings, audio, image generation, and vector store integration.

You can build provider-agnostic AI features while retaining the Laravel-native developer experience.

**Text generation (agents)**

```php theme={null}
use App\Ai\Agents\SalesCoach;

$response = SalesCoach::make()->prompt('Please analyze this sales transcript...');

return (string) $response;
```

**Image generation**

```php theme={null}
use Laravel\Ai\Image;

$image = Image::of('A donut on a kitchen counter')->generate();

$rawContent = (string) $image;
```

**Speech synthesis**

```php theme={null}
use Laravel\Ai\Audio;

$audio = Audio::of('I love coding in Laravel.')->generate();

$rawContent = (string) $audio;
```

**Embedding generation**

```php theme={null}
use Illuminate\Support\Str;

$embeddings = Str::of('Napa Valley wines are the best.')->toEmbeddings();
```

See the [Laravel AI SDK documentation](https://laravel.com/ai) for details.

***

### Semantic / vector search

Native vector query support, integrated with the AI SDK, has been added. You can run semantic search directly from the query builder using PostgreSQL + `pgvector`.

```php theme={null}
$documents = DB::table('documents')
    ->whereVectorSimilarTo('embedding', 'the best wineries in Napa Valley')
    ->limit(10)
    ->get();
```

Everything—from adding embedding columns to running queries—can be done within the Laravel ecosystem.

***

### JSON:API resources

First-party [JSON:API](https://jsonapi.org/) resource support has been added to Laravel. It's now easy to return responses that conform to the JSON:API specification:

* Resource object serialization
* Relationship includes
* Sparse fieldsets
* Links
* JSON:API-compliant response headers

***

### Expanded PHP attributes

Laravel 13 extends declarative configuration via PHP attributes across the framework.

**Applied to controllers**

```php theme={null}
<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Models\Comment;
use App\Models\Post;
use Illuminate\Routing\Attributes\Controllers\Authorize;
use Illuminate\Routing\Attributes\Controllers\Middleware;

#[Middleware('auth')]
class CommentController
{
    #[Middleware('subscribed')]
    #[Authorize('create', [Comment::class, 'post'])]
    public function store(Post $post)
    {
        // ...
    }
}
```

**Applied to queued jobs**

```php theme={null}
use Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\Tries;
use Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\Backoff;
use Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\Timeout;
use Illuminate\Queue\Attributes\FailOnTimeout;

#[Tries(3)]
#[Backoff(60)]
#[Timeout(120)]
#[FailOnTimeout]
class ProcessPodcast implements ShouldQueue
{
    // ...
}
```

Notable new attributes:

| Attribute          | Purpose                                    |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------ |
| `#[Middleware]`    | Apply middleware to a controller or method |
| `#[Authorize]`     | Apply policy checks on a controller        |
| `#[Tries]`         | Maximum attempts for a queued job          |
| `#[Backoff]`       | Backoff time for a queued job              |
| `#[Timeout]`       | Timeout for a queued job                   |
| `#[FailOnTimeout]` | Fail the job on timeout                    |

Additional attributes are introduced for Eloquent, events, notifications, validation, testing, resource serialization APIs, and more.

***

### Queue routing

Use `Queue::route(...)` to define default queue and connection routing rules for specific jobs in one place.

```php theme={null}
use App\Jobs\ProcessPodcast;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Queue;

Queue::route(ProcessPodcast::class, connection: 'redis', queue: 'podcasts');
```

You no longer have to hardcode queue names in job classes, decoupling infrastructure configuration from your code.

***

### Cache TTL extension

Use `Cache::touch(...)` to extend the TTL of a cache item without fetching and re-storing the value.

```php theme={null}
// Extend the TTL by 3600 seconds without changing the current value
Cache::touch('expensive-computation', 3600);
```

***

## Security enhancements

### Strengthened CSRF protection (`PreventRequestForgery`)

The CSRF middleware has been renamed from `VerifyCsrfToken` to `PreventRequestForgery`, and origin validation via the `Sec-Fetch-Site` header has been added.

```php theme={null}
use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\PreventRequestForgery;

// Excluding the middleware in tests
->withoutMiddleware([PreventRequestForgery::class]);
```

`VerifyCsrfToken` remains as a deprecated alias, but migrating to the new class name is recommended.

### Cache deserialization restrictions

A `serializable_classes` option has been added to `config/cache.php`, and the default is `false`. This mitigates PHP deserialization attacks if `APP_KEY` is leaked.

```php theme={null}
// config/cache.php
'serializable_classes' => [
    App\Data\CachedDashboardStats::class,
    App\Support\CachedPricingSnapshot::class,
],
```

If you store PHP objects in the cache, you must explicitly add the classes to the allow list.

***

## Starter kit changes

The starter kits revamped in Laravel 12 (React/Vue/Livewire-based) continue to be available in Laravel 13.

**Inertia v3** was also released alongside Laravel 13. Key changes include:

* Simpler layout props
* Vite 8 support
* Addition of a `withApp` callback
* New Blade components

If you use Inertia v3, consider upgrading it as well.

***

## Other improvements

### AI-assisted upgrade (Laravel Boost)

[Laravel Boost](https://github.com/laravel/boost) is a first-party MCP server. It integrates with AI editors like Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, Gemini, and VS Code, letting you semi-automate upgrades via the `/upgrade-laravel-v13` slash command.

```shell theme={null}
composer require laravel/boost:^2.0 --dev
```

### New contract methods

New methods have been added to the following contracts:

| Contract                           | Added methods                                                                  |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `Bus\Dispatcher`                   | `dispatchAfterResponse`                                                        |
| `Routing\ResponseFactory`          | `eventStream` (SSE support)                                                    |
| `Auth\MustVerifyEmail`             | `markEmailAsUnverified`                                                        |
| `Queue\Queue`                      | `pendingSize`, `delayedSize`, `reservedSize`, `creationTimeOfOldestPendingJob` |
| `Cache\Store` / `Cache\Repository` | `touch`                                                                        |

***

## Summary

Laravel 13 is a release characterized by "few breaking changes, many new features." Upgrade work is minimal, while the **AI SDK** and **semantic search** in particular have the potential to change how modern applications are built.

When you're ready to upgrade an existing application from Laravel 12 to 13, see the detailed guide below.

<Card title="Upgrade guide: Laravel 12 to 13" icon="arrow-up-right" href="/en/blog/upgrade-12-to-13">
  A list of breaking changes and step-by-step upgrade instructions.
</Card>


## Related topics

- [Laravel LSP — extending IDE features via the Language Server Protocol](/en/blog/laravel-lsp-introduction.md)
- [Laravel Fetch Metadata](/en/packages/laravel-fetch-metadata.md)
- [Creating a Laravel Starter Kit](/en/advanced/starter-kit-creation.md)
- [Upgrade guide: Laravel 12 to 13](/en/blog/upgrade-12-to-13.md)
- [PHP Attributes](/en/advanced/php-attributes.md)